Low patient satisfaction ratings caused St. Luke's to cut short the contract for the previous company, St. Luke's Emergency Associates (SLEA).

St. Luke's Hospital, part of the Southcoast Health System, already has a relationship with Deaconess through a rotating residency program, so the hospital and the community will be familiar, officials said.

"They have come to know and understand our community and its emergency medicine needs," said Linda Bodenmann, chief operating officer at St. Luke's. She called it a "natural fit."

The chief of emergency medicine at Harvard/Beth Israel, Dr. Richard Wolfe, said in a statement that "One of our missions is to ensure that board-certified emergency physicians oversee the care of emergency patients. This is critically important in a busy, high-acuity (high severity) department like St. Luke's."

The new contractor took over the department at 7 a.m. Wednesday, said Bodenmann. It went so smoothly that "you would never have known," she said.

All of the physicians from the previous contract have either moved on to other positions elsewhere or have remained at St. Luke's, as long as they are board certified or board eligible, Bodenmann said.

"We used to allow exceptions, but with the increasing acuity and business of the emergency room and our goal of ensuring high-quality care" the hospital raised the bar, she said.

With more than 80,000 patients per year, long wait times were the biggest problem in the past, she added. The hospital will continue to monitor patient satisfaction through letters, phone calls and other surveys, Bodenmann said.

Dr. Jennifer Pope, an emergency room physician at Beth Israel/Deaconess, is the new chairwoman of emergency medicine at St. Luke's. She is in the process of moving to SouthCoast, Bodenmann said.

She extended an olive branch to SLEA, saying "I want to also say thanks and express gratitude to the former group for all the years of services they provided."

This story was revised on Jan. 25, 2013, to reflect the following:

Correction: St. Luke's ER suit

A report Jan. 17 incorrectly said Southcoast Hospitals Group had settled a lawsuit filed against it by contractor St. Luke's Emergency Associates (SLEA). The same error had occurred in a Dec. 22 report on the issue. The lawsuit is being pursued in Bristol Superior Court with no settlement talks.

The suit stems from a decision last year to terminate the contract with the group, which SLEA contends was a breach of contract. SLEA's operation of the emergency room ended last week upon mutual agreement.

Contrary to an assertion made by Southcoast chief operating officer Linda Bodenmann, SLEA says five of its physician board members are without jobs despite being board certified or board eligible or, in one case, being recently certified.

Bodenmann responds: "If SLEA doctors were not retained under the new contract, it is either because those doctors decided they wanted to work for another facility or they were not interested in working at St. Luke's or they were not board certified in emergency medicine."